Through Her Eyes
by The One With A Name
Summary: Oneshot based on a scene from the 1994 live action version of the Jungle Book, my personal favorite version. As Kitty is led through the jungle, she witnesses Mowgli fight desperately for his life against one of the traitor William Boone's henchmen.


I don't think there are really accurate words to describe the feelings I had in those few minutes.

It was a beautiful day in the Indian jungle. The radiant orb of Apollo shed its indiscriminate warmth over a dense ocean of life. The green canopy housed many inhabitants - the monkeys, the tigers and bears and snakes - all were loved equally by Mother Nature. The company I was in, however, was not welcome in this place of beauty and nature. What was the word closest to what I felt at first?

Betrayal. I felt anger burning beneath my skin as I looked at the face of the man who led me through the clearing down to the edge of the pristine water. William Boone - a traitor if ever there were one. The man I had loved when I was so much younger, so much more naive, was now my captor. And not alone. Two of his henchmen accompanied us. One of them was Wilkins. Wilkins was a coward who had clung to William since the three of us were in primary school together. He possessed no fortitude or courage unless he could stay out of harm's way. But, nonetheless, he shared the greed of William and their other companion, Buldeo. Buldeo, as far as I know, was a mercenary who used to work for my father as an escort when I was just a little girl. But now he was just one of William's henchmen, tempted by William's promises of gaining the treasure. That was, of course, why they needed...

A noise on the cliff above drew my attention from these thoughts. The cliff was situated across the small pond and high above us. The right face of the cliff, however, stood over a set of jagged rocks to our right. A gorgeous waterfall dropped from the top of the mountain on which the cliff was situated to the pond far below. It would have been a beautiful sight, but for what I saw next, a sight which caused emotions very unbecoming of a lady of my stature.

Concern. From where the four of us stood, we could easily see two figures dancing in a death struggle on the cliffs above. One was a huge, powerful man dressed in red clothes with heavy black boots. His skin was dark and he bore all the mannerisms of a brute. This was Tabaqui, Buldeo's partner. He must have split off from the group somewhere. I hadn't even noticed! The one he was fighting was the one that had started me on this terrific and frightening journey. Even now, I felt like it was part of myself, not him, who fought Tabaqui on that cliff.

Mowgli.

The name alone made me feel somehow safer. I tormented myself endlessly for marvelling even in his peril at the way he looked. He was naked - his only clothing, as always, was a long stretch of fabric wrapped haphazardly about his nether regions. The sun, abundant in its love, seemed to shine on him and grant him the radiance it denied to the invaders. His skin was an athletic and disarming golden brown, so much different from the harsh and cruel dark skin of Tabaqui. His muscles, well toned and appealing, showed themselves in force as he fought. I punished myself inwardly once more. He was Indian, and a savage at that! And yet I, a proper and well-raised lady of English high society spoke of him above my own countrymen (aside from the traitors surrounding me) as if he were my...my...my hero.

The two grappled towards the edge of the cliff, and Mowgli was losing badly. Tabaqui grimaced wickedly as he forced Mowgli towards the cliff's edge. But they weren't above the water. Tabaqui was going to force Mowgli over the edge that sat above the jagged rocks. I kept myself relatively composed, to avoid arousing William's anger, but the dread must have shown on my face when Mowgli went to his knees on the cliffs edge. The bottoms of his bare feet could be seen now, hanging over the edge of certain death. It was only by some miracle that he somehow spun himself and his attacker around. Tabaqui's back was to the cliff edge now! Surely Mowgli could fight back!

But my hopes were shattered. Mowgli made a desperate attempt to push the huge mercenary back, but his effort was halted as the giant man raised his colossal arm and brought it crashing down upon the area between Mowgli's right shoulder and neck. Mowgli seemed halted by the blow, and my stomach knotted as Tabaqui raised his arm and brought the hammering blow down again. And again. Finally, Mowgli fell. At this point, it was hard for me to see him, as he lay inanimate on the ground. At first, I feared the worst, but when Tabaqui lifted a huge boulder with the obvious intent of finishing off the one person I had grown attached to over these last few months, the anticipation of my best friend's death became even worse. It may not even have looked like it to the men surrounding me, but I was fighting back tears. Every inch of my soul begged me to cry out, to yell his name one more time, to throw myself towards the sky and fly to the cliff and proclaim how barbaric this all was, to for once have the strength to be a hero like Mowgli. But my outward face continued only to portray mild worry. In the end, I was denying my heart's desire in order to save my life. Was I betraying him as well?

But then something happened. I don't know what it was, but Tabaqui was no longer progressing. In fact, it seemed for a moment as if he were losing his balance, unable to halt due to the weight of the boulder he was carrying. Then, all at once, Tabaqui fell over the cliffs deadly edge. It seemed like ages he fell and fell, as relief flooded every crevice of my being. I closed my eyes and turned my head away as Tabaqui's life ended with a disgusting thud on the rocks. Finally, I recalled the men standing around me and opened my eyes. They all looked somewhat disturbed from watching their forme partner's untimely demise.

"What a shame." I commented drily. New confidence filled my visage. We had won. Mowgli and Kitty had won the fight. "Shall we continue?" I asked smugly. But as I looked back up, the shining form of Mowgli appeared once more on the cliff above. _Mowgli, you fool!_ I thought. _Get out of there!_ I prayed I alone had seen him. My hopes were not fulfilled. William was looking bitterly up at the cliff, the words I feared on the edge of his lips. Finally, they escaped.

"Kill him."

Wilkins and Buldeo, the twin cowards, heard the order and promptly raised their rifles to the cliff and opened fire. Fear gripped me once more. I released a long-held breath as their bullets missed and ricocheted off the cliff. Mowgli, alerted to the danger by the sounds, seemed to think only for a brief second before he did the ridiculous. Mowgli jumped from the cliff, off the side over the pool of water. The three men looked astonished as they watched him plummet, sure that he would miss and die all over the ground. After an eternity, however, the water rippled apart as it allowed the jungle native asylum from the plotting of the traitors. Mowgli disappeared beneath the crystal clear surface as his would-be killers looked on in disappointment. At length, they gave up waiting for him to surface and William briskly departed with his tail between his legs. Perhaps they were trying to convince themselves that he was dead. But I knew the truth.

Mowgli had won the day. And soon, I knew he would fulfill his promise. He would come back for me. He would protect me.

Mowgli...the hero.


End file.
